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Dear sponsors, partners and friends of the yaki….

As we welcome the new year, we are pleased to send you our newsletter for 2014!

It has been quite some time since we last sent an update about our programme, and it has been an incredible year

of challenges, progress and growth for Selamatkan Yaki…and we hope that progress has been made towards

conservation of those wonderful yaki.

In this issue, we would like to present recent developments from the Selamatkan Yaki programme, with the latest

achievements and what’s to come for our future focuses. Here are just a few highlights:

We happily welcome two new staff members…we sadly say goodbye to one

Reporting in from the first ever Sulawesi crested black macaque conservation workshop!

Completion of our Tangkoko Nature Reserve Management assessment

Training programmes and conservation forums developed

We open our EARS! - implementation of our ‘Education and Awareness Raising Strategy’

Fundraising, programme car, eco-schools and more!...

There has been some changes in the Selamatkan Yaki staff organisation since our

previous newsletter. In October we had the pleasure to welcome Edyson (Edies)

Maneasa to fulfil our newly formed position of Tangkoko Project Officer, where he will

be responsible for planning, implementing and evaluating all activities related to our

Tangkoko Rejuvenation Project. Following graduation from the Agriculture Faculty at

UNSRAT (University of Sam Ratulangi) in Manado, Edies worked many years for

capacity building and conservation groups such as the Wildlife Conservation Society,

and now joins us with extensive experience and a useful skillset in conservation. Edies

is knowledgeable in a diversity of wildlife management approaches, such as

implementing awareness campaigns, providing environmental education, training

teachers, developing renewable energy strategies and conducting research to

support the programme operations. We believe his integration in the Selamatkan Yaki

team will strengthen our presence in the field around the nature reserve and help us

to implement our conservation efforts in this area with the cooperation of a broad

network of collaborators. Read more about our Tangkoko Project Officer here…

November saw the arrival of a second new team member for another new key role: Tresia

Reyni Palohoen as the Programme Secretary! Reyni graduated from the De Mono School

of Secretary Manado in 2009 and has 3 years of experience at the Indonesian General

Surgeon Society and the Department Surgery of UNSRAT Medical Faculty Manado. Reyni

is a (smiley!) first port of call for the programme, and is responsible for keeping our

administrative tasks organised. She brings to the team a whole range of skills including

graphic design, organising of events, managing accounts and even speaks fluent English!

Check out why Reyni got interested in conservation here…

After a year of dedicated time with SY, we bid farewell to our previous Field Project

Coordinator Gaetan Masson. He has been instrumental in getting the programme off the

ground, and has given a huge contribution to where we are now. We thank Gaetan

dearly for his time and commitment to the programme. We hope that he has enjoyed his experience here in North

Sulawesi and wish him all the best for the future. The new Field Project Coordinator has been developed into a new

role, the core responsibilities of whom will be planning and monitoring of ongoing conservation activities and

development of an alternative livelihood strategy. Keep a look out on our blog for an introduction to this new individual

once they have been successfully recruited very soon.

In addition to the growth in the programme to a team of 5 full time staff in the field, we have been receiving

fantastic support from a wide range of volunteers, from designers in Manado and Venezuela, to research assistants

and social networkers. To all those who help us in our work, we send a huge thank you for your input and shared passion

for conservation.

Changes in the Team!

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It has certainly been an eventful year, and we cannot explain all of our activities here, but we wish to bring attention

to a few key moments or achievements from 2013.

Macaca nigra and Tangkoko Conservation Workshop

We are proud to present you one our greatest realisations of the year: the completion of the first ever Sulawesi

crested black macaque and Tangkoko Nature Reserve international conservation workshop. As part of their

biodiversity conservation efforts, the Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam (BKSDA: government agency responsible for

national protected areas in Indonesia) collaborated with us to facilitate a three day workshop focusing on drawing

conservation actions addressing the protected area of Tangkoko Batuangus Dua Saudara Nature Reserve (Tangkoko)

and the M. nigra native range within the scope of a Species Conservation Action Plan (SAP), an evidence-based

guiding strategy for the conservation of the species.

The event was broadly represented by a wide range of stakeholders, with productive and valuable focus groups

discussions developing conservation recommendations and a short to long-term framework for action. The objectives

of the workshop were widely achieved, with the output proving extremely valuable for development of our

programmes. Plans to develop a broad systematic strategy for the protection of Tangkoko and M. nigra (through the

SAP) are underway and have been contributed to extensively by all appropriate stakeholders. Insight was gained into

the roles, understanding and commitments of all representative parties. Undoubtedly, many participants and parties

learned a lot about the plight of the species and what is endangering them, in addition to the current and proposed

strategies in development to mitigate these threats.

In addition to the central outcomes derived from the core objectives of this workshop, several additional

conclusions were generated through this event:

1. Identified and prioritised threats to the conservation of Tangkoko and M. nigra.

2. Identified causes and effects of these threats.

3. Visions and goals clarified for Tangkoko and M. nigra.

4. Well defined conservation recommendations generated by stakeholder group discussions.

5. Framework for action created which identifies key parties involved in the suggested conservation actions, and

timeline to carry these out.

6. Species Action Plan committee identified.

7. Extensive networking and facilitation of new opportunities to collaborate for maximised effectiveness for

conservation.

Representing the partnership between SY (through the Synergy Pacific Institute) and the BKSDA, we would like to

sincerely thank the attendance, input and feedback from all participants for this important event.

Species Conservation Action Plan

Building on the outcomes of the workshop, our team was able to finalise the first draft version of the M. nigra Species

Conservation Action Plan (SAP). An SAP is a multi-stakeholder, written conservation strategy providing background

information about the target species, a summary of past and current conservation activities undertaken, and an

overview of the ‘threats’ considered to be causal in the species’ population decline. With due consultation,

recommendations and framework for conservation activities to mitigate these threats are developed. An SAP aims to

provide an authoritative source of species-related conservation information available to natural resource managers,

conservationists and decision makers.

What Have We Been Up To?

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This action plan is developed with a single species focus, M. nigra. As a flagship species, conservation of the

Critically Endangered M. nigra is important not just for the target species but will also make a significant and positive

contribution to biodiversity conservation in an area of high endemism. Sulawesi is regarded for its remarkable species

biodiversity, boasts the highest level of endemism within Indonesia, an area already recognised for its rich biodiversity

and endemism. It is hoped that this M. nigra SAP document will help to encourage greater stakeholder collaboration,

and facilitate an evidence-based approach to inform and guide future conservation activities for M. nigra, and

contribute to the conservation of their sympatric biodiversity.

Broad Scale Assessments

As the foundation for our programme in Tangkoko, a

comprehensive assessment of the area was conducted in

order to identify key players, major threats and most

importantly pinpoint key areas in need of enhancement. This

research, composed of various survey and data collection

methods such as the Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool

(METT), a village survey and continual visitor surveys, gives us a

solid baseline for further evaluation of our activities’ impact.

We started our assessment phase by conducting a socio-

demographic village survey. The survey, which involves

questionnaires within a total of 40 households in each of 5

villages surrounding Tangkoko is a really important tool for us.

In addition to other useful information, these surveys provide

an indicator of the villagers’ attitudes toward local wildlife and

their use of natural resources. The data are viable as comparatives to several previous studies carried out by our team

across Minahasa since 2007. These show that many people are still using forest resources, and some have occasional

human-wildlife conflict situations, and still hunt or consume bushmeat including macaques in certain villages although

this is rare. Community members are generally knowledgeable about why it is important to protect forests and

welcome initiatives to harmonise their presence with preserving biodiversity.

The METT is one of the two most widely used and globally applicable systems developed to assess effectiveness of

protected area management. The METT has been designed to track and monitor progress towards worldwide

protected area management effectiveness and report progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is

particularly useful at enabling park managers and donors to identify needs, constraints and priority actions to improve

the effectiveness of protected area management.

During this assessment we surveyed a total of 16 individuals, including provincial management level individuals from

the BKSDA, field management level individuals from the BKSDA, local village heads and local NGOs’ representatives.

Major threats to the reserve support other research to highlight areas to prioritise necessary interventions and focus for

resources of management. Insight into management deficiencies have been identified via total reserve management

scores, and specifically in categories where scores were lowest. Overall, hunting and collecting terrestrial animals is the

greatest threat to the reserve. The management score is relatively low, with particular deficits in particular

management processes, most significantly with regards to communications across different management levels and

other stakeholders. Additionally, improvements could be made in personnel and training, with a lack of budget

allocation and equipment availability being a significant barrier to effective patrols.

In addition to these surveys, we are continually monitoring

attitudes of reserve visitors to track any change in the

visitor impact and experience, and collating supporting

data from partners working in the reserve.

Training Programmes

Based upon previous knowledge and following these

initial assessments, one prominent recommendation was

training of personnel working in the nature reserve. To this

end, we have developed training programmes with a

professional service from Java, known as Yapeka for both

Tangkoko Rejuvenation Programme

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the patrol teams and visitor guides. The training programme for the rangers of Tangkoko has been designed for full

integration into the BKSDA’s Resort Based Management system, with a professional, experienced trainer due to arrive

to provide training in the new SMART software, techniques and equipment. The guide training took a substantial

amount of planning, but took place in November with a good turnout, and positive feedback for the initial training

session. This was implemented in conjunction with a consultation and discussion with the Head of the Tourism

Department for Bitung, and the formation of a new official guide group. We aim to provide a second training session

this year, and help to facilitate a more cohesive guide group system.

Forest Conservation Community Forums

All supporting data and results obtained during the first Phase point to the great need for greater communication

flows. In light of this, we have now established five community forums – platforms for discussion of anything related to

the environment, where issues or suggestions are raised internally within villages, then disseminated externally to other

villages and relevant stakeholder representatives. We consider these to be the most auspicious conservation

interventions of the Tangkoko programme. Following our extensive communications and socializations in villages

regarding the forums (termed Forum Masyarakat Konservasi Hutan: ‘Forest Conservation Community Forums’), we

have so far received full support from the communities involved. We now look forwards to the first official meetings,

and then the major, multi-stakeholder quarterly meetings to be held in April.

We consider these forums to be of priority, especially within certain areas where there have been ongoing cross-

stakeholder challenges. Residual issues have been ongoing, but were brought to attention following developments of

the nature recreation area last year, with certain parts of communities unhappy with the land use and management

of the protected area. There has been subsequent resilience against continued developments and challenges over

land rights, including protests and areas of encroachment. As a neutral party, we hope to facilitate dialogue between

the different stakeholders and work out ways to cooperate with one another. We organised a meeting last year with

the aim to reconcile some of the issues, and have been investigating ways to avoid further issues. It is crucial that

community members feel they have a voice and are considered with the stake in the surrounding areas and respect

due, and that forest management authorities are also regarded highly through proper best practice methods. To this

end, the forums may be utilised as a primary step to avoiding and reconciling disagreements through active discourse

and information sharing between communities and other stakeholders.

This year and last year, the Education and Awareness Raising

project (EARS!) focuses on two key areas for yaki conservation: the

cities of Tomohon and Langowan. Both places have a traditional

market where previous researchers found a high frequency of

meat from animals living in the forests, the so-called “bushmeat”.

Macaque meat, including M. nigra, have been seen for sale at

these markets. After an extensive survey of two and a half months,

interviewing 781 respondents in the area, our team discovered

some useful insights into consumer-behaviour, knowledge and

attitudes. This includes that more than a quarter of the interviewed

local communities are not aware that it is actually illegal according

Let’s Open Our EARS!...

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to the Indonesian law to hunt or trade the Critically Endangered

M. nigra. Furthermore, 89% of the respondents believed an

awareness campaign to be effective to improve the

conservation of the yaki. We decided to organise a gathering,

bringing together community leaders with different expertise:

heads of religious and educational institutes, respected elders,

heads of the markets and cultural leaders.

On November 23rd, we hosted the event “Torang Bacirita:

Konservasi Yaki” (“Let us discuss: yaki conservation”) at the

Minahasa Museum of our partner the North Sulawesi Institute of

Art & Culture in Tompaso. Our key speakers approached yaki

conservation from different points of views: the important role of

yaki in human lives and from a religious and cultural perspective. These talks were followed by two focus group

discussions, which led to very interesting results and laid the foundation for our campaign. The first focus group

discussion was about the ways in which all stakeholders can contribute to yaki conservation through education and

awareness raising. In the afternoon, this was followed by a second session focusing on the Yaki Pride Campaign,

discussing which messages and activities would be most suitable to change people’s knowledge, attitudes and

behaviour regarding yaki conservation. At the same location and day of this event, we had the opening of our very

first yaki exhibition! The beautiful yaki photos of Wildlife Photographer Andrew Walmsley were complemented with yaki

art and designs from all around the world!

Based on the recommendations gathered at the “Torang Bacirita”- event, we have made a campaign plan

encompassing the various stakeholders. Just before the holidays, two billboards were produced and placed on

strategic locations in Tomohon and Langowan. Each billboard features a community leader, in this case the heads of

the districts Langowan East and Tomohon West, including their message of support of yaki conservation. With the help

of additional sponsors, more billboards will follow from this month and will be spread throughout the campaign areas

to reach as many people as possible. Because of the holidays, especially Christmas, and the increase of bushmeat

trade around this time we also held information stands at the traditional markets of Tomohon and Langowan.

During four of the busiest market days, our team raised awareness

about the yaki, their Critically Endangered status and ways to help

yaki conservation. Many volunteers of several Nature Lovers Clubs

helped during these days reaching out from young to old among the

market visitors: Kelompok Pecinta Alam Langowan (Kpalang) and

Arannaka & KPAB Volcano in Tomohon. We handed out campaign

stickers, educational posters, and sold our yaki books and campaign

T-shirts! We also had information banners, activities for children during

which they could make their very own yaki mask and more than 200

people signed our Yaki Conservation Banner to show their support!

We are happy how the local communities have received our

education and awareness raising activities during a productive 2013

and we are looking forward to continue our campaign in this brand-

new year! For our EARS 2014 our key words will be: Collaboration,

Information sharing and capacity building! Together we can build a

solid foundation for the conservation of yaki and other endangered

species in this beautiful country Indonesia.

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In addition to what’s been happening for our core projects, we have also been involved in many other exciting

events and activities. This includes the purchase of our programme car, and its epic trip (accompanied by Gaetan

and Harry) to a United Nations Development Plan meeting in Palu, a yaki quiz fundraiser (thanks to Jodie Dryden for

the amazing effort and raising of over £1000!), participation in the World Animal Day event with great involvement of

local youth to speak out for animals, and visits to inspiring schools, such as the eco-friendly model school SMNP 14 in

Manado, where we talked about sustainability and environmental education in the provincial curriculum along with

other partners.

We are also happy to announce our partnership with the Moroccan Primate Conservation Foundation (MPC), who

work to protect the Endangered Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus), another wonderful macaque species. After

assisting us during the workshop to create our Species Action Plan for M. nigra, we are now in partnership to support

and promote each other’s conservation work. Following the progress of last year, we now look forward to another

productive year, with continuation of both core projects, recruitment of new Field Project Coordinator to help develop

the monitoring and cohesion of the project activities, build a longer term strategy and procure funds to enable

continuity into the coming years.

A final word….in January 2014, North Sulawesi, our study site and home, was devastated by the worst floods and

landslides on record, affecting 70% of the city Manado. All our staff and people we know are fine, and we don't suspect

the forest wildlife will have been affected. However, many people have lost everything…some lives were even lost.

Our field team, together with many friends, has been trying to help those people that haven't received much help.

We try to reach these areas to speak with people affected and distribute much needed supplies. Donations can be

made here, and are crucial in making this work possible - we thank you for your support.

We will of course be sure to keep you updated on all our different projects. Please remember to visit our website

and other social channels and spread our message.

The whole Selamatkan Yaki team would like to thank again every one of our sponsors, partners and friends without

whom nothing would be possible! “Together we can save the yaki!”

All the best for 2014…from the Selamatkan Yaki Team

Partners

Sponsors

And Finally….